In today's Chronicle of Higher Education, Andrea Foster reports on the campaign for the Public Domain Enhancement Act. (The story is only accessible to subscribers.) The PDEA is Lawrence Lessig's simple idea: if copyright holders pay a token $1 fee after 50 years, then they may renew their copyright. Otherwise, their work would enter the public domain --far sooner than it would under current law. Foster's article focuses on the PDEA's beneficial consequences for film, but in fact the act would enlarge the public domain for every category of creative work. (PS: In Eldred, the Supreme Court held that extending the term of copyright was (1) permissible, not mandatory, and (2) within the discretion of Congress. The PDEA asks Congress to accelerate the transfer of works into the public domain, but in a way that doesn't harm copyright holders who want the maximum term for their own works. It should be a no brainer. To help Congress see the light, sign the online petition for the PDEA. Also see letters to Congress in support of the PDEA from film preservationists and archives.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/24/2003 02:50:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
